


Iris Spuria

by Sharoto



Series: Calluna Vulgaris [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Professors, Child custody issues, Gen, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Implied/Reference Child Neglect, M/M, Ministry of Magic Employee Hermione Granger, Pre-Relationship, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23429995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharoto/pseuds/Sharoto
Summary: Hermione gets a couple of visitors, one of which she’d very much not expected. Things start to move forward.Iris Spuria(Blue Iris) - Hope
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter
Series: Calluna Vulgaris [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1417093
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Iris Spuria

A sharp knock brought Hermione out of the daze she’d been in. As much as she loved this job, sometimes the paperwork did drag on, and she’d glared at this legislation for hours now. 

“Enter.” She said rather testily and hoped, rather than believed, it to be important. Most likely it would be just another memo that her secretary could have dealt with alone. Two men entered that she’d recognise anywhere, however, she would not have expected them to be together.  
“Harry! Mal…foy?” She smiled at her friend but stuttered when she realised who’d come with him. Of course, they now worked together but she would not have guessed them to be friendly enough for this. Hermione gave them both a look over. Harry had red eyes, that had been hastily cleaned to make himself vaguely presentable. Deep purple circles under his eyes told of long term stress and a lack of sleep. Malfoy looked much less polished than she would have assumed as well. Hair messed up, shirt crumpled and dusty robes. His eyes darted between Hermione and Harry, with a hand rested gently on Harry’s back he urged him forward. She tried to catch either man's gaze, but one examined the carpet and the other was more focused on Harry.

“So, what brings you _both_ to my office?”She tried for a smile but missed, too concerned with whatever was wrong with Harry.  
Harry looked up sheepishly, opened his mouth and attempted to speak several times, then dropped his head again as if in shame. Hermione noticed the letter is his fist, it looked well-read and in a similar condition to the two men.

“Would you like me to start?” Malfoy said gently. Harry sighed and nodded. Malfoy eased the letter from his hand and presented it to Hermione.

“I’ve no idea how much of this he’s told you, but I gather it’s not a significant amount,” Malfoy explained as she opened the letter and read. Malfoy told her how Harry had been kept from James, how he’d assumed no one could help him, how her oldest friend hadn’t wanted to bother her when she was busy. The more she heard, the angrier she became and more determined to fix this mess. But more than that, it saddened her that Harry still couldn’t see his worth. Hermione had never been fond of Heather or her manipulative attitude. She agreed with Malfoy’s blackmail idea as she had long suspected similar things from the woman.

“Oh, Harry!” She cried, rushed out from behind her desk and wrapped him in a hug. “I will never be too busy for you! Least of all for something like this.” Arms tightened behind her back as sobs wracked through him. 

“Sorry, ‘Mione, I’m such a mess.” He went to wipe his face but she hushed him and muttered reassurances. “Don’t worry, I’ll have it sorted in no time. This is my job, Muggle Liaisons.” She heard Malfoy mutter something that sounded like ‘Really, Potter.’ and he shook his head. Harry grimaced sheepishly. “And besides, James isn't Muggle, and Heather is fully aware of our world. This wouldn’t even touch the Muggle courts. Would it, Mal…Draco?” The name tasted odd on her tongue, but the change felt necessary if nothing else. 

“Err…” Draco coughed, looked at Hermione over Harry’s shoulder bewildered and tried again. “No, it is rare that the…non-magical parent would get preference irrelevant of their gender.” The pause and word choice seemed like an attempt to earn Hermione’s approval. "It is not particularly my area but I fail to remember any cases in recent history where it happened. In this case, there is no precedent for you not to get sole custody if you wish. The only other person who would have any claim would be the absent sibling, Erica.” The rest came out in a bit of a ramble despite his posh tone. Hermione smiled at him, the difference from their younger years had never been clearer. She took a step back, grasped Harry’s hand in hers, he looked much calmer and even slightly cheerful. 

“As Draco said, She hasn’t got a case, Harry. If you want her completely out of James’ life, we can do that. Even if the Ministry didn’t owe you…well everything, they would still fight this case. You have a stronger claim, particular if James has already shown signs of magic. Which I’m sure you said he did?”

Harry smiled wistfully, “Yeah, you should have seen him when he met Teddy! They had matching bright blue hair!”

A series of strange looks flickered across Draco’s face at this, it settled finally on confusion. “They're both Metamorphmagi?"  
“Huh? You know about Teddy?” Harry asked and Hermione was equally confused. Whilst Teddy’s status wasn’t exactly a secret, it certainly wasn’t common knowledge and he still had 4 years until Draco would meet him at school.

Draco said, oddly quiet, “He is my cousin as well, second removed of course but that hardly matters.” He looked almost scared Hermione thought. He dropped his gaze from the pair of them and muttered again. “Is James one then?” He said stiffly. 

Harry appeared shocked. Clearly, he’d forgotten the familial connection just as Hermione had. A thoughtful expression crossed his face briefly, “Nah, just a dash of accidental magic, still was a bit of a nightmare to try and fix as he kept turning it back. Thought it was all a great joke I’m sure." He smiled at the memory, then grew sullen.

Draco looked up at the change in tone, he met Hermione’s eyes, she nodded slightly at him and hoped he got the message, he should be the one to ask.

“What happened Harry?” he asked tenderly and moved next to Hermione. Harry looked at both of them, glanced down and clenched his fist.

“She shouted at him as if he’d done it on purpose to upset her, he wasn’t even two! I should have done something then. Even if she is his mother, he deserves better.” The sudden fierceness in his voice startled Hermione. He turned to her. “Help me! Help me get my son away from her! I can’t sit here crying, He needs me.” 

“Finally.” They both muttered, scowled at the other and then a smirk broke across Draco’s face. Determined to wipe it off, Hermione turned and silently flicked her wand at her desk, and a small stack of paperwork appeared. “I have had these filled out ready for…awhile. Sign, date and we'll head off to the DMLE office, grab Ron and bring James home, shall we?”

Harry’s jaw practically hit the floor, Draco looked at both of them and burst out laughing. “Brilliant Granger! That was practically Slytherin of you, colour me impressed. I thought he hadn’t told you a thing?” he drawled.

“He hadn’t, but I’ve never trusted that woman and hoped one day Harry would have some sense knocked into him.”

Harry looked back and forth between the two, both looked quite smug. “Hey! I’m right here.” He scolded as he grabbed the papers roughly and began to read. There were several forms, all filled in by Hermione’s small neat hand. Harry came across a section about the evidence needed and paused. He turned toward the others and asked, “What evidence can I even provide? She’s not like it around anyone else?” Before his mood could drop they both glared at him with eerily similar expressions. 'Are you stupid?’ They both seemed to say. Rather than speak her mind, Hermione tutted and pointed at a collection of small vials on her desk. Some were empty, some were filled with the ethereal mercury of memories.

“Right. ‘Course. Memories.” He pointed at the full vials and asked confused, “Whose are those then?”.

Hermione pointed at each in turn, “Mine, Ron’s Andromeda’s Molly’s and Teddy’s, I doubt his will necessarily be useful but he insisted on being allowed to help.” Harry seemed quiet as he went back to his forms. She turned to Draco and whispered, “Thank you for dragging him here, I knew thing were getting worse but had no clue it was this bad.” She thought for a moment then continued, “How did you get it out of him anyway? I knew you’d made nice, but didn’t realise you were this close?”

Draco blushed, and Hermione was unsure why but was certain she’d work it out soon. “We’re not, I mean,” he cleared his throat, “Right time, right place I suppose. He received the letter just before we were due to meet up, so I arrived just after he’d exploded his office.”

“He exploded his office?" She asked, concerned but still trying to whisper.

“Only a little, simple enough fix.” Draco smiled reassuringly.

“So, you found your ex-rival in the wreck of his office, then just decided to drag him to me?” The whole thing seemed unlikely, but curiosity demanded answers. The closeness between them spoke of more than just a simple truce. 

Draco seemed pained when he spoke, “Harry was a greater wreck than his office. I had not ever seen him like that, well perhaps once,” his voice trailed off toward the end, Hermione could barely hear it. “I could not bear to see him in such, agony.” His cheeks flushed again. “I held him whilst he cried, asked what was wrong. We talked, shared stories about our boys. Once he was calm enough, I suggested we see you. I thought, if anyone at the Ministry would know exactly how to help him it would be you.” He spoke with such openness that shocked Hermione. She looked at him as he watched Harry and things clicked into place. 

“How long?” She asked at last, as quiet as she could, but with a smile in the hope that Draco wouldn’t take her question the wrong way.

Draco sighed, raised his head to the ceiling and closed his eyes. “Far longer than I’m willing to admit, and certainly longer than I deserve too.”

That must mean before the war before he turned his life around, did that mean? 

“Was that why…?"

“No!” He snapped, then softened. “No, I never dared to imagine we could, not even as friends. No, that I did for myself, and for my Son.”

As glad as she was to know that Draco’s redemption had been genuine and not some long-running play by the Slytherin to woo her oldest friend, she wondered if it might have worked none the less. He looked defeated for a moment before his face went emotionless as though he had put on a mask. 

“I believe you. You’re a good man Draco. Thank you.” 

The mask shattered. 

Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. 

“I could only imagine how it must feel like to lose a child in such a manner.” Clearly, he wanted to change the subject, Hermione had no reason to hound him so she let it pass. “It reminded me of how lucky I was with Astoria. She hardly would not have had trouble keeping Scorpius from me. No one would have taken my case.”

“I would, and so would Harry. Even before this,” She confirmed. He looked uncertain. “Draco, he stood up for you long before now, when the rest of the world only saw a villain, and I’m fairly certain he forgave you before that too. Think about it, when did you forgive him?” She hinted at an event she knew well Harry would never forget.

“I never blamed him for that. Not even then.” He said still softer. She beamed at him and decided to stave off from meddling, for now.

Harry was done, the remaining vials were filled and his quill laid to rest as. He looked at the pair of them the whispered exchange seemed lost on him. He smiled at them, perhaps glad to see old animosities forgotten. 

“Ready?” Hermione asked eagerly.

“Yeah, let's go!” Harry seemed hopeful finally.

With a tap of her wand the forms folded themselves up and flew out of Hermione’s office, off to see her husband, they might even get to his office before they did. The top memo simple read “It’s time, we’re getting James.”

She had, of course, failed to mention the third member of their party.

Hermione grabbed her robe from the back of the door, and marched out, with Harry close behind. Draco, however, didn’t follow, he appeared to have shrunk, “You coming to Draco?” Harry asked and Draco brightened. 

“You want me to come with you?” He looked honestly surprised at the invitation.

"If you want, not gonna force you. I’m sure you’ve got more important stuff to do…” Draco rushed to his side as Harry mumbled. Gently he cupped his face, raised his chin.

“Nothing is more important than this to me right now.” Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco, but he only had eyes for one. Harry laced his fingers with those of Draco’s free hand and dragged him out of the office toward the lifts.

“Hurry up ‘Mione!”

Ron was going to flip when he saw this and Hermione wouldn’t miss it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, it has taken me so long to write more of this! I do have notes for part 3, and a spin-off/ later part that mostly written. Hopefully, I'll find time to continue with the current situation as it is.
> 
> Hope you are all safe and well!
> 
> Oh and that you enjoyed it.


End file.
